Take a Picture, It’ll Last Longer

ByPaul Vigna

It’s a rally – right now, at least, after Congress passed the stripped-down, taxes only version of a fiscal-cliff budget bill.

Now seems like as good a time as any to take a snapshot of the markets, so you can remember this moment when the next D.C. slugfest strikes.

Risk assets are getting a strong boost as trading gets under way in 2013, with stocks being the most visible example. The question, of course, is how long this burst lasts and where it goes from here. Lord knows, there are plenty of issues facing investors. On the other hand, there are plenty of central banks playing beggar-thy-neighbor.

U.S. stocks burst out of the gate, and have since leveled off, so it’s worth taking a look at where the various markets sit right now.

Equities are surging. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Comp are all up more than 1.5%.

Dow: up 1.7% at 13328

S&P 500: up 1.7% at 1450

Nasdaq Comp: up 2.2% at 3085.

Keep an eye on the Russell 2000, too. This index of small-cap stocks is up 2.3% at 869, which represents a new all-time high. Be warned, though: it was at roughly these same level in both April 2011 (865) and September 2012 (865).

Commodities are stronger across the board. The West Texas crude-oil futures benchmark is up 1.2% at $92.93, although it was up about 2% earlier. Gold is up 0.9% at $1.691/oz, and this was also up by more earlier this morning. Silver is up 2.7%, and copper’s up 0.6%.

The move in the euro is interesting. The common currency rose along with equities earlier, rising as high as 1.3299 against the dollar. But it has since come off those highs, and is currently down against the dollar at 1.3163. The yen is falling against the dollar, now at Y87.082.

Bond yields are rising. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to 1.85% this morning, after closing 2012 at 1.757%. It’s currently at 1.83%.

For more MarketBeat and other streaming markets coverage from The Wall Street Journal, point your mobile browser to wsj.com/marketspulse.

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